Friday, August 31, 2018

Photo Blogging Challenge - August 2018- Photographer's Choice #photoblogchal

Over at A 'Lil HooHaa there is a Photo Blogging Challenge this month. All during the month we are challenged to take photos and then select five to post on the last day of the month. I'm linking mine to Photo Blogging Challenge - August 2018 - Photographer's Choice #photoblogchal.


If there is a theme to these five photos, I think it might be something is missing.


The fog at the Pacific coastline was beginning to lift, but much of the large outcropping of rock was still obscured by the fog making it look like it was suspended in the air.

The remains of what once had been a picnic table now looks like something left over from Neolithic ancestors. 

The something missing here is the rest of the wild turkey.

These strikingly white blossoms on this honeysuckle plant are missing the usual natural yellow coloring of the blossoms.

This Mason Bee House is missing a few mason bees in some of the tubes.

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Finish the Sentence Friday - Repost of Everything felt perfect the time that...

Back on June 25, 2015, I posted Finish the Sentence Friday:  Everything felt perfect the time that. It is now time for a repost! Judging from the looks of that original post, I'm not even sure I even managed to link up. Perhaps I missed the link up time. I was a newbie at blogging. 

The original is displayed below. I will be sure to link my Finish the Sentence Friday - Repost of Everything felt perfect the time that...so that host, Kristi Campbell of Finding Ninee and co-host Kenya G. Johnson of Sporadically Yours and other followers of this blog hop can find my post and others' posts.






Today I'm linking up with Finish the Sentence Friday:  Everything felt perfect the time that...

Everything felt perfect the time that our family was on their way moving from drought stricken California north to a place that had more rain. It didn't start off feeling perfect though. I'm not even sure I grasped that we were moving and why.

On moving day I'd been dropped off at school the same as usual. My second grade teacher had been notified that my Dad would be picking me up a little early, so I didn't need to ride the bus home.  When Dad got there, he told me to tell my teacher goodbye, because we were moving! There were no individual goodbyes to any close friends, just out the door and on our way.

First we stopped at a nearby town to say goodbye to my grandparents. This is when it got even harder. My Grandma had taken care of me different times when my Dad had farm related errands to do, and my Mom was at work. I think Grandma probably took care of my younger brother also. Grandma had no daughters, so I suspect she may have been partial to me, or at least that was the feeling I had. Now her only grandchildren were moving to another state. My grandparents were getting up in years and unable to travel and knew it would be quite a while before they saw us again. I had never seen my Grandma cry, but I saw her tears that day as we departed.

We were traveling  northward in the Spring, a nice time of the year to be traveling. It wasn't too cold or too hot, and I'm sure that my parents were hoping they wouldn't have to drive on snowy roads.  Dad drove the pickup and was hauling a small two-wheeled cattle trailer behind him. The trailer was packed not with cattle, but with things that couldn't be put in the Bekins Moving Van. Mom drove the car.  I was in the car with Mom. I think that my brother may have been riding in the pickup with my Dad, but I don't actually remember.

After we got on our way, everything felt perfect, kind of exciting and adventurous, especially as we got out of the very flat land where we had lived. As we began navigating up the mountains on the very winding road north of Shasta Dam, I was kind of scared looking out the window and seeing a river far below. In that period of time, there was no freeway, just a two-lane narrow road without painted lines on the shoulders. There are more protective railings now too than there were then. We had to drive a lot slower as we tried to drive through the mountainous area. Suddenly, as Dad went around a curve, he blew the right tire on the trailer. The tire headed directly toward our car before careening down the side of the mountain! Dad was somehow able to safely come to a stop, as did Mom. Both were visibly shaken. What could have caused a very imperfect ending was not to be. We were perfectly watched over, and I think we all realized what could have happened, but didn't.

Six Sentence Stories - Latch

This time I almost wrote another six sentence story about the same experience I previously shared almost three years ago, but with the prompt word close. Thanks to the search feature on blogger I was able to avoid that scenario. It would have been so easy to insert the new prompt. Have any of you had similar occurrences while trying to pen a new blog hop story?

Here is my bit of personal historical fiction written in six sentences which I am linking to the Six Sentence Stories - Latch blog hop hosted by our ever diligent host, Denise Farley of Girlie on the Edge's Blog. I appreciate her timeliness in posting the prompt each Sunday, so we have time to mull it over before the link opens by Thursday. If you click the link you will be able to see what others are posting for latch.





A sense of dreaded readiness in the home was tangible even to the youngest gathered there.

Oh, no...several gasped, as pearls started falling off the graduated strings onto the wooden floor.

Grandma stood still, as though in a daze, where she had been standing when her grown son, now in his late forties, had been fumbling  to fasten the latch on her favorite necklace given to her many years earlier.

She watched as her grandchildren hustled to retrieve all the pearls so she wouldn't step on one and risk falling.

All the loose pearls and those still remaining on the broken strands were then carefully placed on the thin sheet of cotton batting in the original gift box.

A favorite brooch with a cameo made of  carnelian shell was brought from her dresser drawer and then carefully pinned on her dark jersey dress, and her hat placed over her thin gray hair before the family slowly guided her to the car for the drive to St. Brigid's where the funeral mass for her departed husband would take place.



Monday, August 27, 2018

RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #216 Hero&Coward

Ronovan Hester has given haiku creators two great prompts for his blog hop this week. I will be linking my haiku to his site, RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #216 Hero&Coward. Only one haiku is needed to link up, but I just couldn't stop writing. Guidelines can be found on his site. I'm looking forward to reading your haiku for this prompt.




thrusting aside fear
coward emerged a hero
in spite of himself

***

revered for actions
cowards shrink leave for heroes
the half-mast banner

***

remembered brav'ry
hero stands tall coward weeps
in his own remorse

Ten Things of Thankful

Perhaps some people are born into this world just naturally feeling grateful for everything that comes their way. Maybe they are the ones that help the rest of us see what is right there in front of us. Whoever you are and wherever you are on your measuring stick of life, you no doubt have a reason for coming here to see what ten things of thankful I might possibly be posting. Maybe you are hoping to lift your spirits today. Could it be that you just want to laugh or smile, or hope that someone else feels like you do? Whatever it is, I hope you find some of that here and on the blogs of others who link up. 

I join in with the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop hosted by Kristi Brierley of Thankful Me, because it is beneficial to me to take time to notice the little and the big things each week. It is difficult to explain how that makes a difference in my life, but I do feel happier when I give thanks whether it is in private prayers, or casual conversations with others, or here on this blog. Much has been said and written about the power of positive thinking. Being ungrateful brings out the negativity in a person, so naturally the opposite action creates positivity.





1. A good report from a doctor. I had been a little concerned about something to do with my health, so I scheduled an appointment to get the opinion of the doctor. It was a huge relief to start off the week knowing I could put those worrisome thoughts aside.

2. A good focus meeting at the nursing center. I always enjoy meeting with the staff for a focus meeting about my mother's care. It gives them and me a chance to address specific concerns about her health and treatment.

3. Fun activity at the nursing home. My husband and I went up to the nursing center to take mom to an outdoor area that was was arranged to bring some enjoyment to the residents for a few hours. Therapy animals were brought there for the residents to watch and pet if they desired. There were some chickens, a couple of llamas, a couple of goats, and a dog. Mom seemed to enjoy one of the little goats the most, but acted relieved to return to her living area. (Over stimulation can be a problem for those with Alzheimer's and other types of dementia.)


4. Cooler days, air quality back in the normal range after a week of hazardous air quality and high temperatures and even some sprinkles in some areas today. To be able to open the windows for a while and to feel that it is safe to be outside again is a blessing. It made me think about those parts of this country and in other countries where bad air quality is something the citizens haven't had relief from yet.

Link

5. Being able to get the car serviced and a part replaced that the technician noticed was showing signs of cracking. Yeah, for observant eyes.

6. Visits with friends. There are many ways to visit such as texting, writing an email, or a handwritten snail mail note or letter, making a phone call, taking a friend to lunch, going to a museum or park together, or just visiting with one another at your home or their home. I'm thankful for friends to visit and for those who visit me.

7. Finding several good clothing buys at a thrift shop. Shopping for clothes isn't nearly as enjoyable for me as it once was, so being able to find something that I liked and which fit was a plus!

8. Discovering a mini-mall in a small town. It was a serendipitous find, and one to which I will return. Small quiet shops within close proximity of each other was quite inviting.

9. A date with my husband. We went to see a new movie that just came out. The theater had very plush comfortable seats. It was a good thing that it was an action film, or I just might have fallen asleep, not because of the movie, but because the seats were that  comfortable.

10. Old photos. There is something about looking through old photos that stirs so many memories. I'm thankful for the challenge on the Finish the Sentence Friday blog hop this week where we were asked to share a photo and write about it.


Friday, August 24, 2018

Finish the Sentence Friday - Foto Share Friday

After looking through photos I finally found one that I thought might work for the Finish the Sentence Friday - Foto Share Friday, a blog hop hosted by Kristi Campbell of Finding Ninee and co-hosted by Kenya G. Johnson, of Sporadically Yours

Each week the Finish the Sentence Friday blog hop has a different challenge. The first week we are given a sentence to complete. The second week we write a listicle on a topic we are given. The third week we think about the prompt for five minutes and then write our thoughts. Lastly is the Foto Share Friday with the challenge to write about a photo. When there is a fifth Friday, we still write, but we need to check to see what Kristi and Kenya decide should be the prompt.







This photo of me was taken when I was 14 years old, that is if the film was developed soon after the picture was taken. Sometimes film would stay in the camera until all the photos were taken to complete the roll. That was a different era.

The car is a 1956 two-door, two-toned blue Buick. If I remember correctly, it was my parents' first brand new car purchase a couple of years before this photo was taken. (I'm certain it was not my idea to sit on the car, as my dad was quite proud of his car and wouldn't have appreciated me possibly scratching it. That being said, I suspect it was his idea for me to sit there for the photo.)

I am wearing what was then referred to as peddle pushers (the pants) and white tennis shoes.

In the foreground is a lavender bush. It is difficult to recognize that is what it is, but I remember how hard it was to weed around it.

On the other side of the car is the driveway leading down toward a wooden bridge spanning a creek. Beyond the driveway, where the tops of some trees can be seen in the photo, is a deep drop-off to the creek down below. Perhaps after many years of the creek meandering through the property, the hillside eroded as winter and spring flooding occurred. There were two creeks that flowed through this lower area of the property.

A couple of barrels on a stand are shown in front of the very old barn. The barrels contained gas for the farm equipment and sometimes for our vehicles if needed. 

There was a newer barn on the farm, so the old barn wasn't really used much as a barn. When our red 1950 Farmall tractor wasn't being used, it was parked inside it. Some odds and ends were stored in there, but not much more. Since the simple farm house had been built at the end of the 19th century, I'm guessing this structure was built then too, or even earlier. 

My dad bought a young Belgium shepherd. When she got big enough, he had her bred and she gave birth to 14 puppies! Part of that old barn became home for them, until dad sold the pups.

At the top of the barn's roof can be seen some fir trees off in the distance. Only part of the property had been cleared for farming. There was some pretty old timber on some of the property which brought some needed income for my parents later.




Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Six Sentence Stories - Mailbox

When I was young I was fascinated by the slotted box that was attached to the front of my grandparents' house by the screen door. It was different from the metal box into which our RFD (Rural Free Delivery) mail was inserted. When mailboxes became a thing in the  USA  there were no regulations concerning the size. Even a cigar box could have been a mail receptacle. 

Denise Farley of Girlie on the Edge's Blog presents the prompt each week for this blog hop where we write a story using only six sentences. I'm linking my post to Six Sentence Stories - Mailbox. Click the link so you can easily peruse the creative writings of other bloggers and their six sentence stories.




As the college student driving the yellow bus brought it to a halt by the rural mailbox, a girl about 12 years old, dressed in the attire typical of those following her same religion, awkwardly made her way up the steps into the bus now three quarters of the way filled with 12 - 18 year old students. The strong smell of onion followed her, as it did everyday after that, as she made her way toward the back to find an  available seat. 

Had she been born later on, she probably would have had the convenience of riding in a bus equipped for transporting students who had special needs. It was obvious that she was much slower in her cognitive and social skills, and lacked the ability to control some of her physical functions on occasion, much to the chagrin of those sitting near her. Some of the rougher boys, who typically sat as far away from the bus driver as they could, didn't always hold their tongue, nor their nudges and gestures when the girl had an accident. 

Sadly, most on the bus never knew her name or considered what it would have been like to have been her.


Monday, August 20, 2018

Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #215 Rebel&Change

Thanks to Ronovan Hester of Ronovan Writes, bloggers have a chance to link their haiku each week. He gives us a different prompt each week. I am linking my post to RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #215 Rebel&Change.  By going to his link you can read the guidelines for participation in the blog hop and click the links of others to read their haiku. If you enjoy this type of creative writing, we'd love to read your haiku.





verdant hills turned black
as earth spewed, rebelled, and changed
new islands emerged


Link

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Ten Things of Thankful

What a busy week it has been, but it has been a good week. I hope you have been able to see, feel, and know of some of the blessings in your life too. That doesn't mean that everything is good all the time, because we actually need to have contrasts, the good and the bad, to recognize the good. 

Thanks to Kristi of Thankful Me hosting the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop each week, we are able to have a place to share a few things for which we are grateful each week. It may be ten things, or maybe less or perhaps more. Some might not even get to the point of blogging and posting. What is important is that we at least consider these things and give thanks for them. Just reading what others share sometimes can set our thoughts in motion to the point where we think, "me too." If you do post and link up, then we too benefit from reading what you have to share. 





1. Discovering interesting information in a book I received as a gift this week. A caption of a photo that was of a brother of a two of my uncles stated that he was named the "World Champion All-Around Cowboy" at the 1919 Chicago World's Fair. On another page of the book I learned that he had given Louis Lindley the rodeo clown name of Slim Pickens which he continued to use when he became a famous actor.

2. Being able to go to the Portland Temple with a friend Tuesday morning. It was nice to be able to travel to and from without any traffic problems. My friend treated me to lunch too. It had been a while since we had gone to the temple, so it was nice to experience again the peaceful feeling one can feel inside the temple.

3. Seeing some improvement in mom's appetite. Mom's appetite has been waning the last little while. I was glad to see her appetite pick up this week.

4. Blue sky and clouds appeared again after several days of gloomy gray skies with air quality identified as hazardous. It was nice to be able to open the windows in the evening for a while to get a breeze flowing through the house after three days of avoiding filling our house with contaminates.


Blue sky and white altocumulus or
cirrocumulus clouds

5. Getting out of the hazardous air quality to take a friend to visit mutual friends. We had been planning the trip, and didn't realize at the time we scheduled the date that it would end up being the great escape from the awful air conditions here. We had fun visiting and going out to lunch together. Our friends showed us one of their newest plants. It is such an interesting plant!


Maroon Starfish Carrion Plant (Ceropegia)

6. Signs that let you know you have had visitors. We were only away for a few hours one day, but that was just long enough for a turkey, or perhaps more, to stop by. One left us a gift.



Wild turkey feather

7. Two reunions held on consecutive days. One was a Happy 75th Birthday Party for my high school graduation class.  The other reunion was for a group of people who had attended the same church congregation as youth. There was lots of catching up to do at each one.

8. Reminders from nature. If plants with minority colors share a common root, surely we as people can exist with those who don't look exactly like us. 


This honeysuckle plant had a few pure
white blossoms among the normal
two-shaded yellow blossoms.


A dwarf vine maple which normally displays
red leaves is sporting some green leaves.

9. Reminders from the youth. One of our granddaughters displayed one of her pieces of art at the fair and received a "Best in Class" ribbon. I love the message her art presents.

Best in Class, Northwest Washington Fair

10. For the knowledge that even the very small can make a difference in this world, shown by the efforts of these small worker ants we noticed on the lane. Ants could be seen carrying larva from one side of the lane to the other. Some ants were carrying larva to one side, while others were carrying larva to the other side, as can be seen in the video below if you watch closely.

The ants crossing the gravel lane left a trail.


A two-lane highway of ants carrying
larva 




Friday, August 17, 2018

Finish the Sentence Friday - Stream of Consciousness - Grandparents

Taking pause for a five minute stream of consciousness is what some of those who participate in the third Friday blog hop Finish the Sentence Friday do. Although our host, Kristi Campbell of Finding Ninee and co-host, Kenya G. Johnson of Sporadically Yours do not make a big deal out of how short or how long our posts are, nor do they try to figure out how on earth so many words could come from that stream of consciousness, or for that matter, so few words. They, like the rest of the participants, just enjoy reading the posts. I am linking my post to Finish the Sentence Friday - Stream of Consciousness - Grandparents. Click the link and you will find access to the other comments about grandparents.






My grandparents were all born in the latter half of the 19th century with one of my grandfathers being born just a few years after the end of the Civil War. Their means of transportation was by horse and buggy early on, but after the automobile revolution my grandfathers learned to drive cars. Neither of my grandmothers ever drove a car. Although airplanes had been invented, none of my grandparents ever flew in an airplane.

Now when people relocate from one state to another, we generally just say, they moved, but looking back on the big moves of my grandparents, I tend to think in terms of them migrating. 


  • My paternal grandmother was born in Indiana and as a young child was moved to Kansas to live with an aunt after the death of her mother from lockjaw. She met my grandfather in Kansas. Although they went to Texas to get married, they didn't live there. After living in Kansas for a few years, early in the second decade of the 20th century they moved to California where some of their relatives had moved.



  • There was a similar reason for my maternal grandparents' moves. They didn't leave Arkansas until around 1929 or 1930 at the encouragement of some of their older children living in California who felt the opportunity for employment would be better. This was time of the great depression. Before the beginning of WWII they moved north to Oregon where other children had moved.


Occupations of my grandparents:


  • The occupations shown in census records listing my paternal grandfather indicate that he had been a barber, an employee of the Fargo Express Co., and a farmer and owner of a truck farm. Records for my maternal grandfather show that he was a farmer, worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad, and was a postmaster. He also worked in a logging mill, but there isn't a census indicating this. There is no census record indicating his last place of employment where he worked in the shipyards in Portland OR during WWII just prior to his death and a few months before I was born. 



  • My grandmothers were both housewives. I remember hearing that my paternal grandmother had worked waiting tables and in the kitchen in a hotel/boarding house where she lived as a young woman, and  for a while at a cannery, I am guessing during the depression. The WPA employed my maternal grandmother for a while during the depression, but that occupation doesn't show up on a census record.


The school of hard knocks gave my grandparents most of their education, but they did have some formal education.


  • My paternal grandfather completed the first year of high school and my paternal grandmother only completed the fifth grade.



  • According to the census records, my maternal grandfather completed the eighth grade and my maternal grandmother completed the seventh grade.

My paternal grandparents
shown with my parents

My maternal grandparents shown with
four of their children


Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Six Sentence Stories - Fear

Fear abounds throughout the world and perhaps it was only a matter time that this blog hop would choose to address the subject. Denise Farley of Girlie on the Edge's Blog is the host for this blog hop. I dug into my memory bank for ideas. I'm linking my story to the Six Sentence Stories - Fear





She knew that it was time, and she probably thought she could find her way without someone leading her there, especially a child.

Used to finding a familiar path to get her places, she no doubt presumed the paths came with her when she was relocated.

She hadn't anticipated the separation from her kin, although she'd seen instances of it.

Becoming cantankerous and a bit bossy indubitably gave rise to her less than charming name.

As she lowered her head and dug in her heels, her long, curved horns were level with the eyes of the fear-struck child in front of her.

Although she retained her name, her manner was one of meekness after her weapons were removed later that day.



Link



Monday, August 13, 2018

RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #214 Lack&Fool

Ronovan Hester of RonovanWrites brings a weekly haiku challenge to all who enjoy writing haiku. Each Monday the link is open so those who have written a haiku using the weekly prompt can link up to Ronovan's site. The guidelines can be found at his site. Click here to link up RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #214 Lack&Fool.

This is my contribution this week using the 5-7-5 style of haiku.



enticed by Venus
foolish fly lacks sense to stop
ere the trigger hairs

Click here for source



Saturday, August 11, 2018

Ten Things of Thankful

It has been a good week and I've taken a few photos to share some of those things for which I am thankful. I'll be linking this post to the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop hosted by Kristi of Thankful Me. Are you feeling grateful? If you have a blog, why not write a post about those things, and link up to the blog hop. While you are there, see how other bloggers are expressing gratitude this week.



1. "Number 5"great grandchild, a little girl, was born this week! To see a photo of her, see the post of the host of this blog hop.

2. Received an email from our grandson saying he'd arrived safely in Argentina where he will be serving a church mission.

3. Went with my husband to eat lunch with some empty nesters.  I'm getting better about not indulging in too many of the items at the buffet.

4. Went to hear a speaker talk about essential oils. A few days later I was  bitten by a no-see-um. They are my nemeses. I usually do not realize I have been bitten until I see and feel a welt the following day. I decided to rub some lavender oil on the spot two or three times a day for a couple of days, and the itching went away. Usually the welt and itching lasts a week, but the welt subsided very quickly this time. What do you call no-see-ums in your area?

5. Escaping from the hot muggy weather here in the valley one day by driving to the coast, about an hour away. I loved watching the waves and listening to the sound of the ocean.



6. My husband spotted a little scallop shell on the sand. I had never seen one, except in little shops along the coast. I could walk forever along the shore looking at all the things that have washed up at low tide, and although this is not my husband's favorite thing to do he did it with me and for me this day. 

Scallop shell

There were lots of jellyfish on the sand.

7. Going on a tour of the new cheese factory in Tillamook and of course treating ourselves to cheese samples and then buying some ice cream. Yum!

Hoof prints of cows guided those taking the
self-tour at the cheese factory.


8. Seeing a plant that I remembered from childhood. I spotted the plant shown below when we were at the coast. I remembered a childhood friend telling me that it was called Indian tobacco. I wasn't sure if this was just a made-up story by a child or if there was some truth to it. Thanks now to Google and me having taken a photo I was able to identify the plant and also find a link giving some verification to her remark. 

Curly Dock

9. Bridges, and also the people and things that help us cross the big hurdles of life. My husband has helped me and the two of us cross a few hurdles over the years.

My husband crossing small bridge at
Ona Beach State Park

Yaquina Bay Bridge near Newport OR

10. Making it to three-quarters of my lifetime, if I follow in the footsteps of my centenarian mom. Thanks for all the well wishes.

Friday, August 10, 2018

Finish the Sentence Friday - Listicle 10 things I worry about

Whether it is being referred to as a pessimist, fussbudget or a worrywart it doesn't sound very pleasant to me. When our host, Kristi Campbell of Finding Ninee and co-host, Kenya G. Johnson of Sporadically Yours presented the prompt for the blog hop this week, I wasn't too excited. (Actually, Lizzi Lewis of Considerings provided the prompt word this week. Thanks, Lizzi.) I wasn't sure I wanted to emphasize the fact that I might spend time overthinking things, especially unnecessarily. Perhaps writing about these things might get them out and about and away from my thoughts or where we can combine ideas and actually do something about some of these things. That being said, I'm linking my post to Finish the Sentence Friday - Listicle 10 things I worry about sometimes.  




1. What the future may be like for myself and for society

2. What, if anything, I can do about the above situation

3. Not being able to meet the expectations of others (i.e. being able to play the piano without making mistakes, sewing without making mistakes)

4. My weight (Although I prefer not to consider myself obese, I know I should weigh less than I do according to those ever-so-helpful charts.)

5. The care of the elderly and people who are physically fragile, and those who are mentally unstable or challenged

6. History repeating itself (i.e. the bad parts of history)

7. Greed and its impact on society

8. Choices made by people when they have a negative impact on themselves (Considering no man is an island, it is my belief that every person's actions impact someone or many, for better or for worse.)

9. Unfinished tasks and knowing when to seek help or to offer help

10. The abuses and cruelties said or done to people of all ages



Click here to source.



Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Six Sentence Stories - Sign

Thanks to Denise Farley at Girlie on the Edge's Blog we have a chance to link up to the Six Sentence Stories - Sign blog hop this week. Well actually every week she provides a different prompt for the blog hop. Depending on what our mind set might be when we see the new prompt, our SSS might vary drastically from week to week as to the genre. One thing for sure is that there will only be six sentences in our stories. Click here to see what others are linking up this week, and join in the fun if you wish.



No one could accuse him of being yellow, even though he really was.

He had hidden underground with others of his kind until he became mature enough to venture out in the summer and test his mettle in the heat of the day.

The queens hadn't exactly kicked them out of the colony, and even came with them for a while.

One thing was quite unexpected, but he should have noticed the signs.

Occasionally he had noticed one of the colony had succumbed on the ground below.

It was strange how the males had fallen to their deaths, while other workers died, it wasn't like this.

Monday, August 6, 2018

RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #213 Time&Movement

What a great way to begin the week, by sitting in the rocking chair thinking about this posed by Ronovan Hester, RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #213 Time&Movement. Do you want to join us in writing haiku or just read the haiku others have written? Click here. Check out his site at RonovanWrites for other things he is posting.





toes pressing carpet
as rocker moves, time stands still
and mind relaxes



Click here for source.



Sunday, August 5, 2018

Ten Things of Thankful

Have you experienced anything this past week that reminded you of how grateful you are for the kindness and goodness of people? Maybe you have thought about how much easier it is for you to do certain things compared to how difficult doing those things might have been for your grandparents. Perhaps you considered how thankful you were for a cool glass of lemonade on a hot summer day. Take a few minutes and write some of these thoughts down, and if you have a blog, write a post and link up. The more we share, the more others are reminded of the goodness that abounds and we help overrule the negativity being written and spoken by some.

Each week the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop link is open from Friday beginning at 1:00 a.m. Mountain Time and it stays open for those wanting to link their post until Tuesday 11:55 p.m. Our host is Kristi of Thankful Me. Click here to see what others are sharing this week.


1. Seeing a male bluebird sitting on a fence post early one morning this past week. One of the songs I remember hearing in my early childhood was There's a Bluebird on your Window Sill, but I didn't know the story behind it then. Although I don't recall seeing a bluebirds in my childhood, except in Bambi, I loved the music mentioned. Bluebirds abound here and we are fortunate to be able to see them each summer when they build nests.

2. A cooler day when the crew came to do a major pruning and weeding of some shrub beds. The beginning of the week proved to be uncomfortably hot. I hated to think about a yard crew facing the work ahead at our place in such grueling heat. On Thursday it started cooling down and by Friday when the crew came, it was down in the mid-seventies in the morning and didn't go above 80 degrees by the time they left in the mid-afternoon.

3. Good reviews of yard maintenance companies. It is great to be able to find places online where you can trust the reviews.

4. Seeing a great movie. We went to see a movie that had been recommended to us by two of our children. It was very poignant and left me feeling that there surely must be something that should be done and must be done about the reasons that many are homeless. The movie was based on a book, and a real experience was the motivation for the book.

5. Being able to go to a wedding shower and a wedding. It is good to gather with friends to celebrate happy occasions. Click here to listen to one of the most beautiful songs written about weddings.

6. Being able to recognize when a prayer has been answered and to give thanks.

7. Being able to determine the cause of what might be the reasons for feeling pain. This often takes some close observation of one's activities and eating patterns, but it pays to give due diligence.

8. Modern day good Samaritan. After being gone last weekend, I visited my mom at the nursing home and visited with some of the staff as I left. I'd noticed that mom was wearing a pair of shoes that I didn't recognize as being hers, so I inquired about that. 

Because mom has gotten shorter as she has aged, her feet were not reaching the floor when she sat in her wheelchair. In the past she has kind of pulled her wheelchair along by reaching forward with her shoes and pulling her feet back toward the chair to propel herself forward.  (Because of arthritic shoulders, she hasn't ever been able to navigate by pushing the wheels with her hands.) 

The staff and the Director of the Nursing Staff were discussing this situation. They knew a shorter wheelchair wasn't an option due to the fact that the chair would also be narrower. The DNS was wearing a pair of shoes that had a deeper sole than the soles on mom's shoes, so she put her own shoes on mom's feet. Apparently her shoes were about the same size. Mom started moving forward and the DNS said, "She can just have my shoes," and she went and found a pair of spare slippers from the supply closet to put on her own feet. (People often donate extra clothing to the nursing home.)

I was so touched by this director's sensitivity to my mom's needs that she would give up her own shoes. My husband and I both thought of the story of the Good Samaritan upon hearing this.

10. My husband who lets me sleep in, but wakes me up in time for me to do the things that he knows I need and want to get done. Even with my desire to get up earlier than I do on some mornings, my body rebels when my night's sleep hasn't been as restful as I would have liked. He recognizes this, especially when I get back in bed after the alarm has gone off. I appreciate him for allowing me that extra time of rest. To show him that I appreciate the fact there there may be a time when he desires to sleep longer than my early alarm clock ring, I'm going to be better about setting the alarm for the very latest that I need to get up...just in case.